Pakistani couple kill daughter after she refuses to marry cousin
A court in Italy sentenced a Pakistani couple to life in prison on Tuesday for the murder of their daughter. Eighteen-year-old Saman Abbas was strangled to death back in 2021` after she rejected her family's demand to marry an older cousin in Pakistan. She was living in Novellara near Bologna at the time. The case gained significant attention in Italy after Saman went missing in May 2021.
Parents ordered murder, uncle strangled niece
The Reggio Emilia tribunal found that Saman's parents ordered her murder, and her uncle strangled her. The uncle received a 14-year sentence after accepting a plea bargain, while two cousins were acquitted. Notably, the victim had reported her parents to the police and was placed in a shelter in November 2020. In April 2021, she visited her family to retrieve her passport and start a new life with her boyfriend but went missing soon after.
Victim's body recovered from deserted farmhouse
Authorities raided the family home in May after Saman's boyfriend informed the police, but the parents had already fled to Pakistan. A year later, Saman's body was discovered in an abandoned farmhouse with a broken neck. It is believed that she was killed on the night between April 30 and May 1, as surveillance footage showed five individuals leaving the house with shovels, crowbars, and buckets on April 29, 2021.
Extraditions and ongoing search for mother
Saman's father, Shabbar Abbas, was arrested in Pakistan and extradited to Italy in August 2023. The uncle, Danish Hasnain, was handed over by French authorities, while the cousins were arrested in Spain. All four men attended the trial, but Saman's mother, Nazia Shaheen, remains a fugitive and is believed to be in Pakistan. Notably, Tuesday's trial was one of the most high-profile in the country.
Parents objected to Saman's adoption of Western culture
Reportedly, it was Saman's brother who told police that he had overheard his father discussing her murder and that it was their uncle who killed her. Saman's adoption of Western customs, such as removing her headscarf and dating a man of her choice, was disapproved by her family. Italian investigators also revealed that a social media post of Saman and her Pakistani boyfriend kissing infuriated her parents, who wanted her to marry a cousin back in the homeland.
